Hard disc drives are used in modern computer systems and computer networks to enable users to quickly access vast amounts of electronically stored data. A typical disc drive houses five to ten magnetic discs which are axially aligned and mounted to a spindle motor for rotation at a constant, high speed. An array of read/write heads are controllably positioned adjacent magnetic recording surfaces of the discs in order to store and retrieve the data from tracks defined on the disc surfaces. The heads fly adjacent the recording surfaces on air bearings established by air currents set up by the rotation of the discs.
Of particular interest are heads of the so-called "magneto-resistive" variety, which utilize magneto-resistive (MR) elements to sense the selective magnetization of the tracks during disc drive data transfer operations. A typical MR element is formed from an alloy of materials so as to have a baseline electrical resistance which varies in the presence of a magnetic field of a selected orientation. By passing a bias current through the MR element, the selective magnetization of a corresponding track can be determined in relation to variations in voltage detected across the MR element.
It is common in present generation disc drive manufacturing processes to individually select read bias current magnitudes for each of the MR heads of a disc drive in order to optimize disc drive performance. For example, test data are typically written and then read in turn a number of times using a range of different read bias current magnitudes. Those read bias current magnitudes providing optimum performance are then stored in memory utilized by the drive so that, when a particular head is selected during subsequent operation, the disc drive applies the appropriate read bias current to the particular head.
MR heads are known to be delicate and must be handled and operated with a certain degree of care so as to prevent inadvertent damage which can degrade the reliability of the heads. Although the application of a relatively larger bias current will generally enhance the sensitivity of an MR head during a read operation, by providing a higher signal to noise ratio in a recovered readback signal, it is important to ensure that the maximum power dissipation capability of the head is not exceeded. As will be recognized, because the MR element operates as a (highly sensitive) resistance, the power P dissipated by the MR element will be generally proportional to the resistance R of the MR element multiplied by the square of the bias current I (i.e., P=I.sup.2 R). Accordingly, there is an upper limit on the magnitude of the bias current that can be applied to any given MR head, and the application of too large a bias current, even momentarily, can stress the MR head and adversely affect its operational reliability over time.
Accordingly, as efforts continue to provide disc drives with ever increasing levels of data storage capabilities and performance, there remains a continual need for improvements in the art whereby the reliability of the drives can be maintained by minimizing inadvertent stresses upon sensitive components of the drives, such as MR heads.